I'm something of a "shipper," so I don't think that romantic pairings and good nighttime TV drama can't go hand-in-hand. Intimate relationships between co-workers are common in real-life, which is not surprising, considering that we spend 75% of our time during our (pre-retirement) adult years on-the-job. Particularly in a profession as physically risky and emotionally demanding as police work, I can imagine that sometimes, it feels like the only people who can truly understand what you're going through are the people you work with. So it's only natural for office-mates to pair up, fall in love, etc. And I do believe that this reality should be reflected on television,
BUT ONLY if the pairings make sense and are handled properly by the writers. That's the kicker, in my view.
Over the years, I haven't been overly-impressed with how the writers on the 3
CSI shows have handled romantic relationships between the team-members. :shifty: The Grissom/Sara pairing seemed to negatively affect the integrity of Sara as a character, leading her do things that I thought were completely out of character for her. IMO, she is only now turning back into the "old" Sara that I knew and liked in the initial seasons of the show. Lindsay and Danny were quite fun to watch until they got married, but, since then, I'm not sure I like the direction that Danny's character is going in. He's lost a lot of the sarcastic/sardonic edge that was such a huge part of his charm, and honestly, I can't understand why. Is this a general side-effect of marriage that I'm not aware of? I think not.
And then TPTB @
CSI: Miami strung fans along for years with the "will they or won't they" between Calleigh and Eric, and just when they FINALLY got together:thumbsup:, the writers seemed hell-bent on creating problems where there didn't need to be any.
Perhaps I have a much higher tolerance for these types of things because I'm a hopeless romantic, but, honestly, I never thought the E/C romance rose to the level of making the show seem "soap opera-ish" at all. Up until the end of Season 7, I thought the writers did a good job of keeping the focus on the CSI team's police work, while subtly acknowledging the personal relationship between Delko and Duquesne. For the most part, there were just brief moments between them on camera (e.g., "Wolfe in Sheep's Clothing," "Dead on Arrival"), with enough understated references to their romance to satisfy us "shippers," and then, it was
back to business. There was nothing wrong with this formula, IMO. But I guess the writers couldn't leave well enough alone. So, lo and behold, in Season 8, they launched a misguided attempt to "fix" an intimate relationship that wasn't broken to begin with, leaving viewers scratching their heads.
And sadly, I'm pretty sure that the writers would have taken this incomprehensible and convoluted approach even if Adam Rodriguez hadn't switched from being a full-time cast-member to an occasional guest-star on the show.
Someone should clue the CSI writers into the fact that you CAN get married or be in a committed relationship with a co-worker without losing yourself. Office romances CAN exist without being dysfunctional, flawed, or awkward ... it happens everyday in the real world. I think they need to brush up on their "normal relationship" writing skills ...
NOTE: Admins - I hope that in making this post, I wasn't "reviving" an old thread. I figured not, since "Bolt Action" is an episode from the current season (8), and the thread was still on page 1 of the CSI: Miami board when I added my reply. (As a newbie, I'm still learning my way around the forum rules). However, please let me know if I should move my post to someplace more appropriate on the board. Thanks!
